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Flashcards · IB Diploma Programme Global Politics · Topic 3

Thematic studies: Development and sustainability flashcards

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Topic 3: Thematic studies: Development and sustainability

What is development in Global Politics?
Improvement in people's lives across economic, political, social and institutional dimensions — not growth alone. Human development (Sen) means widening people's real freedoms and capabilities.
What is sustainable development?
Meeting present needs without reducing future generations' ability to meet theirs (Brundtland Report, 1987). Sustainability has environmental, social and economic dimensions.
Absolute poverty versus relative poverty
Absolute: below a fixed minimum, such as the World Bank's dollars-a-day line. Relative: well below the typical standard in your own society, for example under 60% of median income.
What does the HDI measure and what does it miss?
It combines health, education and income (a geometric mean). It misses inequality, the environment and freedoms.
How is the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) calculated?
MPI = H × A, where H is the share of people who are multidimensionally poor and A is the average share of weighted indicators they are deprived in. Example: H = 0.25, A = 0.44 → MPI = 0.11. It uses ten household indicators and misses income.
World Bank versus IMF
World Bank: long-term development loans and grants. IMF: short-term balance-of-payments lending with conditions. Their 1980s structural adjustment conditions required cutting deficits, privatising and liberalising trade.
Modernization versus dependency theory
Modernization: poorer countries develop by following the rich world's stages; criticised as one route for all. Dependency / world-systems: the core exploits the periphery, keeping it poor; criticised for missing success stories.
What does the Gini index measure?
The spread of income, from 0 (perfect equality) to 1 (or 100, total inequality). It does not show where in the distribution the inequality sits.
How should you use a development index in an essay?
Name the index and what it measures; use it as evidence; state one thing it leaves out; show how a second measure changes the picture.

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